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Registered and Records Office Services

Every Canadian corporation requires a registered office and a records office.

At INC Business Lawyers, we provide registered and records office services for your convenience.

A registered office is important for three reasons:

If a corporation is ever sued, the corporation is served with the court action documents by having the court documents delivered to the registered office. If the corporation does not file a response within 21 days of service (14 days for Small Claims court actions) the person who commenced the court action can obtain default judgment.

The registered office is the place where the corporate registry sends the annual reports. If the corporation fails to file its annual reports for two years, the corporation will be struck from the registry of companies, and will cease to exist. If that occurs you may restore the corporation, but a restoration will cost about twice as much as what it costed you to incorporate the company.

The registered office is the place directors of a corporation may send their notices of resignation. This becomes important because, if the corporation suffers financial difficulties, directors face personal liability for most debts the corporation owes to the government, such as unpaid payroll deductions, GST/HST, corporate income taxes, and for two months of unpaid employee's wages.

The registered office must be located in British Columbia if you have a BC corporation or in Canada if you have a Canadian federal corporation.

The records office is the location where the corporation is required to keep its corporate records.

The office must be open for public viewing of required information during normal office hours. Any member of the public is entitled to review the incorporations documents and the lists of the registers of the directors and shareholders (for a viewing fee).

You may wish to keep your corporation's records office with a law firm so that the lawyers may certify information about the corporate records of the corporation. Banks often require certified corporate records.

What INC Business Lawyers offers:

We conveniently take care of the following items so you can attend to your business.

We become the registered and records office for your corporation.

We send notice to the addresses you provided to us as your contact information if the registered office is served with a court action.

We date-stamp all notices which are delivered to the registered office.

We will deal with any member of the public who wishes to view or to take copies while checking that the records are not tampered with and that the person only sees the records that they are entitled to see.

We prepare and file your corporation's annual report which must be filed with the corporate registry.

We prepare your corporation's year end resolutions.

We most commonly perform this service for British Columbia and Canadian Federal corporations. If you are incorporated in another Canadian province, we will gladly source you to one of partner registered office providers in other provinces if you require this service there. In addition, many non-BC companies (LLCs or partnerships) need to have a registered office in BC.

Provincial legislation also requires registered agent services for franchisors and registered dealers. We can act as the attorney for service as per the Regulations to the BC Francises Act, and the registered agent as per securities legislation.

What will it Cost?

Only $200.00 CAD per year plus costs and applicable taxes. Government filing fees for British Columbia are currently $44.89 for the annual report.

Canadian Federal corporations face similar costs, although most Canadian Federal corporations also file an extra-provincial annual report in BC--as a result, we offer a discount if you require both services.

Business Address and Mail Forwarding Services

Clients who select INC as their Registered and Records office may retain INC to provide a business address and mail forwarding services. This service is intended for companies who wish to avoid the expense of renting an office or who do not wish to be seen to operate a business out of their home. We offer a basic service for $350 per year plus postage, which includes use of our address and forwarding of everyday business mail, or an enhanced service for $450 per year plus postage, where we also scan and email you everyday business mail.

Our address performs very well in Google searches for most business website addresses if you include the address on your website and in Google Places. This occurs because our business location is surrounded by numerous world-class companies, and like in Silicon Valley, businesses located in certain areas enjoy greater prestige. Companies who retain this service may rent the boardroom in our well-appointed offices for private use on an hourly basis and enjoy free parking for themselves and their clients.